In Defense of Airbrushing

You won't find me taking this stance often...airbrushing! It leads woman to have unrealistic standards for their bodies! It makes men expect that all women look like Barbie dolls! It enabled Cher, of all people, to be on the cover of Vanity Fair!

But OK, in this case...maybe the folks working on branding 14th street as the MidCity Art's District should have considered their own artistic reinterpretation of the sign in this picture's background. Thanks to The District Curmudgeon for posting this hilarious pic.

Goings On About Town-Friday, 11/12/10

It's Wok N' Roll's opening weekend at 2400 18th street NW (Adam's Morgan). I'm a huge fan of the Chinatown location, and I hope this one will be just as good as the original!

The Ice Skating Rink at the National Sculpture Garden (700 Constitution Ave NW) opens this weekend on Saturday 11/13...is it really cold enough for that yet?

DC's Tweed Ride on Sunday 11/14 will be full of hipsters beginning at 12:30 at 1808 Adam's Mill Rd (Adam's Morgan).

Crumbs Bake Shop (604 11th St NW, Metro Center) has its first day on the DC cupcake scene tomorrow, Saturday the 13th.

Apparently all metro lines are going to suck this weekend.

ACKC (1529 14th Street NW, Logan Circle) has a brunch special, half price bottomless mimosas if you use the phrase "bottom's up" this Sunday the 14th.

The DC Metropolitan Cooking Show (at the Convention Center) will feature Paula Deen, Rachael Ray, Bobby Flay and others, Saturday and Sunday (11/13-14).

Madewell, an extension of preppy purveyor JCrew, opens in Georgetown.

Little Miss Whisky's (1104 H St NE, H Street Corridor) is having a garage sale featuring their unusual decorations. Go get yourself a conversation piece on Sunday, 11/14.

If you hate children, you might not enjoy this Sunday's (11/14) Cap's game against Atlanta...it's kid's night.

Restaurant Review: Lupe Mexican Cantina

Continuing my survey of DC Mexican restaurants, last night I had dinner at Lupe Mexican Cantina in Dupont Circle. Next to the always busy Public Bar and the (pardon my pun) jet set Fly Lounge, Lupe offers a much more relaxed scene.

The decor is decidedly "Mexican hodge podge"...some semi-authentic rustic-looking wooden chairs, paired with benches upholstered in the prototypical "Mexican restaurant pattern" fabric, lit by more modern light fixtures. One of the defining features of the restaurant is a wall mural that I took to be a representation of "Mexican culture" (see below). The overall visual result was like someone mashed Oyamel and Cactus Cantina...some upscale elements paired with stereotypical Mexican restaurant decor.


Photo, courtesy of Lupecantina.com

The restaurant was decently busy for a Thursday evening, although we were able to sit almost immediately. The majority of the patrons were mid-twenties to early-thirties, apparently on dates. I had read disparaging reviews of Lupe's service on Urban Spoon but found both the hostess and our server to be polite without being overbearing. It wasn't memorable service--in a good way--which is ultimately what I want from a $12 a plate restaurant.

One of the first things I want to know when I go to a Mexican restaurant is--how are the margaritas? At Lupe, they're pretty darn good. Lupe's margaritas are simple...lime juice, tequila, triple sec, salt. That's it. As it should be. No cloyingly sweet sour mix. No goofy jumbo glass (just a highball, thanks). All in all, a good cocktail. And at $5 apiece during Happy Hour (M-F, 5-8pm) they're a pretty good deal too.

As an appetizer, we started with the guacamole. I was a bit surprised that the $5 option was the same size as our (very small) salsa ramekin. The size actually appropriate for two people was $8, which seemed priced a bit high to me. While guac was enjoyable, the recipe was too heavy on the onion. The tortilla chips were the perfect thickness for scooping, and not at all greasy, but didn't taste homemade either. The salsa itself had a good kick, but the consistency should have been thicker. A good start so far, but not mind blowing.

For entrees, Lupe's prices range from $8 to about $16. The full menu (minus prices) is on their website here. 

We had the chile relleno ($12) and the skirt steak ($15). The skirt steak was seasoned nicely, but a little overcooked and tough--considering we had ordered it medium rare. It came with an arugula side salad, which was nice although somewhat unexpected for a Mexican dish. The chile relleno, however, was definitely a must-order again! Stuffed with beef, pine nuts and raisins, and topped with sauce and cheese, it was spicy and surprisingly substantial. My only qualm was that it could use a more interesting side dish and better plating...two small chili's with a pat of (completely generic) Mexican rice and a ramekin of refried beans was not visually exciting. Maybe I just had arugula envy, but I thought another vegetable on the plate would have rounded the dish out nicely.

Lupe's has definitely worked out many of the kinks they experienced right after opening, but the quality of the food just frankly can't compete with pricier options like Oyamel, Rosa Mexicana and Cafe Atlantico. But, for inexpensive chain Mexican, they're well above Guapo's, Cactus Cantina and the like.

All in all, I think the location and the happy hour margaritas would bring me back to Lupe. The food was decent, but only the chile relleno was a must-order again for me. Near the Dupont metro and convenient to many other neighboring bars, I think this would be the perfect place to start your night or meet up with friends after work.


View Larger Map

Metro Center Bakery is Opening

Thanks to the 42 bus for alerting me to this opening. I've been passing this bakery, and trying to sneak a peak inside the window, for months!


View Larger Map

According to Crumbs' website, their first location was opened by husband-wife team Mia and Jason Bauer in NYC.

Since then, their business has exploded, with current and in-construction locations all over the country. Crumbs was actually recently mentioned in Forbes Magazine's 2010 List of the 500 Fastest Growing Companies in America (they were #422). Take that, Georgetown Cupcake.


Photo courtesy of crumbs.com

Take a look at all their signature cupcakes here.


Photo courtesy of crumbs.com

 We'll see how they fare against the local competition, especially considering that Red Velvet is just a few blocks away, in Chinatown.

Crumbs is also opening a second DC location in the Union Station shops.


Update: Via Penn Quarter Living, the official open date of Crumbs at Metro Center is 11/13, and on 11/19 they'll give away 1,000 free cupcakes to promote the new location.

And, according to the WBJ, Crumbs is considering a third DC-metro area location in Clarendon.

We May Not See Any New Bars in Eastern Market

As I reported earlier in the week, there have been many recent restaurant additions to the Eastern Market/Barracks Row neighborhood. Not surprisingly, ANC 6B has something to say about it.

The Hill is Home recaps Tuesday's ANC 6-B meeting, specifically highlighting talk of new liquor license moratorium. If you're not familiar with ANC's, they can effectively block new bars and prohibit expansions of existing ones (a la Dupont Circle's Hanks Oyster Bar, this past summer).

Apparently, Eastern Market's 9th street residents are concerned about the noise, trash and increased foot traffic that may come from the new Moby Dick's House of Kabob and Nooshi. Both restaurants plan to lease the building formerly occupied by pet store Chateau Animaux. Chateau Animaux closed, co-owner Dennis Bourgault explained, due to an inability to remain profitable with their increased operational costs.

When Hill is Home originally reported the news, they anonymously quoted one local resident as saying, "The 'drums of war' are already beating, and I believe there will be major opposition, on the principle that enough is enough." The 8th street corridor in SE is already a popular bar and restaurant strip, with retail mostly clustered on the end closest to the Eastern Market metro station.

According to Hill is Home, all the businesses that approached the former Chateau Animaux space were restaurants. As Bourgault's comments imply, the increased popularity of 8th street is leading landlords to raise rents...making bars (with higher profit margins) more likely to consider 8th street locations.

In other words, 9th street residents may be fighting a losing battle against the market.

As of this week, ANC 6-B has issued a blanket restriction on all new liquor licenses. An information-gathering meeting to further discuss the issue has been set for December 6th.

It looks like all or almost all existing Eastern Market liquor licenses will be renewed, assuming that each restaurant or bar will sign a new Voluntary Agreement (VA). If you're unfamiliar with the ANC/VA process, 14th and You writes a wonderful explanation of Voluntary Agreements that I highly recommend you read.

Columbia Heights' Social is Closing

Yesterday, I read a post from CityPaper's Young and Hungry speculating that Social, a restaurant in Columbia Heights, had closed. Tim Carman links to a pretty damning review he wrote when he first visited Social, although he doesn't name the restaurant explicitly in deference to its newness.

Later yesterday afternoon, DCist confirmed that Social has in fact, closed. Allegedly, "a dispute regarding taxes and the ownership group" is the cause.

One of Social's owners, AJ Guy, explained, "Social has closed today due to an unexpected set of circumstances and we are working diligently to find a solution so that we can continue to be an active member of the Columbia Heights community."

I've eaten at Social a couple of times, and while I never found it as bad as Carman describes, it didn't wow me either. The food was fine, but overpriced, and the service was underwhelming. If Social remains closed (Guy's comment implies there's a chance of re-opening), I'd expect the space to quickly be leased by a new restaurant.


View Larger Map

On that note...if you bought the Groupon (or was it Living Social?) for Social, I hope you've already used it!

Pedestrian, the Bus is Turning!

Photo courtesy of TBD.com

Several sources are reporting that there's a new WMATA metrobus pilot program hoping to reduce the number of pedestrian-stuck-by-bus incidents.

WMATA's brilliant idea? Talking buses. Annoyingly loud, talking buses.

Buses participating in this pilot program have been spotted in Mount Pleasant, Logan Circle, Chinatown and Brookland, DCist reports. When making a turn, the bus sound system projects a message "Pedestrian! The bus is turning!" in both English and Spanish.

Unsuck DC metro posted this video taken by an onlooker to demonstrate the message's abrasiveness. Complains the Unsuck DC poster, "It’s so loud it wakes me at night and can be heard for blocks and blocks around."

As usual, Greater Greater Washington provides a well-argued, common sense response. GGW's Rob Pittangolo writes, simply, "Resources would be better spent elsewhere."

A talking bus doesn't address WMATA's underlying safety issue--that the unionized drivers aren't held responsible for their safety infractions. Instead, as usual, we get more posturing from WMATA.

And perhaps the worst part? By addressing the problem as a "need for better pedestrian awareness," WMATA implies that the blame for pedestrian-bus accidents lies with the victim, not the driver.